Days are long and sunset is late in summer, so I’m rarely downtown Ottawa after night falls. But as days are becoming shorter, I decided to go hunt for night shots while the weather is still nice.
Last Saturday was one of these days. It was in the mid-twenties and I left home around 7 p.m. to roam the downtown core with my camera. Half of the city had the same idea—by September, we’re all clutching at the last bits of summer.
I started on Parliament Hill where the last few tourists were desperately trying to take good night shots of their family in front of the Centre Block (not an easy feat when you don’t have any control over the shutter speed). On my way down Wellington Street, I stopped at one of the most scenic spots in Ottawa: the view over the locks, the Ottawa River, Alexandra Bridge and Gatineau in the distance.
In front of Château Laurier, bellboys were busy with a few presumably rich and important visitors who had parked right on the sidewalk. A couple of stretch limos were trying to make the sharp turn back on Wellington—Saturday night frenzy at Ottawa’s most classical hotel.
The Rideau area was, as usual, crowded and dirty. Behind the windows at Tim Horton’s and McDonald’s, customers were munching on burgers and donuts, an eye on passengers getting on and off the big red buses spitting out a cloud of dark smoke.
Everybody was eating something at the Byward Market. Tables were out on the sidewalk and people were either having a drink, a meal or a snack. The ever-popular Beavertail House was packed, as well as the local Shawarma joints, most of them opened 24 hours.
Just before 10 p.m., I ended up at Chapters, waiting for Feng to pick me up. The store was surprisingly busy with late-night readers sipping coffee, sprawled across purple beanbag chairs.
I love night lights!
Salut Zhu,
Gorgeous shots!
I like the ambiance at night in Ottawa. It looks like people feel safe taking the transportation at night.
I always need a “readjustment time” each time to/from North America. I quickly get used to the luxuries like later closing hours or Sunday openings, which I have more or less, kissed bye to in France.
Yes, Ottawa is pretty safe. I’d probably avoid taking some bus lines very late at night but I feel very safe here, never had a problem.
Purple Sky!!!! I love all the wonderful shots!!! Fantastic!!!
Glad you liked them!
Now I want a shawarma 🙂
Do you have a lot of these in India? We have so many Shawarma shops in Ottawa… it’s the late night snack 🙂
Beautiful pictures Zhu!
Thanks Guillermo! Next step… roaming Kanata at night 😆
Such a wonderful city and you caught its night life so well!
Beautiful, beautiful pictures…
Thank you! The night crowd is a different crowd and it’s good to see the city from a different angle.
My tripod is too heavy, so I hardly take night shots 🙁
The lesson I got is: Buy a good tripod, and use it forever. (一步到位)
I have a really shitty tripod! One of these $20 light-plastic tripods I bought years ago as a present for Feng actually.
J’aime tes photos… Surtout celle de la petite lectrice et du taxi… Là tu vois, c’est toujours quelque chose que je jalouse constamment : je suis infoutue de prendre des photos de nuit (bon, ok, je n’ai pas de trépied car un dos fragile, ni la patience pour cela), mais qu’est ce que c’est beau !!!
Ça paraît difficile mais finalement, les photos de nuit ne sont pas si dures à faire, il faut juste un peu de patience et d’entraînement. Je te conseille de commencer juste après le coucher de soleil, quand il y a encore assez de lumière pour se passer d’un trépied. Ou de prendre des coins particulièrement éclairés. It’s a rewarding hunt!
Those are awesome shots! I especially love the bus picture. I’m also experimenting with night shots with my camera, but I am realizing that I need much better equipment (a tripod perhaps) or a better understanding of exposure times.
A tripod helps but I never carry one when I travel. You can almost always find a flat surface on which you can put the camera.
What kind of camera do you have? With DSLR you can play with the shutter, and most compact camera have a “fireworks” mode that works quite weel.
Meh, a DSLR I do not have. I used to have a point and shoot until early this year (my photographs of my trip to Mexico City were the last ones I took with that camera). Then I promoted myself to a hybrid camera: I have a SONY DSC-H55, which allows me to just point and shoot, but at the same time, I can also manually select some settings, like exposure time and aperture and what not. That’s the part that I haven’t figured out yet.
Oh yes, I see the kind of camera you have, These are good too!
Do you have a shutter mode? If so, getting good night pictures is just a matter of setting the ISO low (I like 100 and 200) so that it won’t be too noisy (grainy) and use a slow shutter. You do have to keep the camera still, so a flat surface works best. If I shoot handheld under a shutter speed of 1/60 or less, shots usually end up blurry. If you need specific advice, don’t hesitate to ask!
Beautiful shots.. I’ve never been to Ottawa. I’m sure it’s the type of place that has a different feel depending on the time of year 🙂
“Saludos” from New York 🙂
It does! Although we certainly don’t have as much streetlights as NY 😉
I especially like the picture with the old-fashioned taxi light 🙂
Thanks! Yeah, these taxis caught my eye 🙂
Hi Zhu!
I really like your blog.
Recently I moved to Ottawa (two weeks ago) and searching info about Ottawa and its immigrants etc I found your blog. Nice pictures. I like to take photos too, I have just did it yesterday at the same place, my photos are not so good though!!
I do have a Cannon T3i, you think it is a good camera to get nice pictures?
Welcome to Ottawa! I sent you an email.
As for cameras, I shoot with a Nikon and I don’t know Cannon much. But remember, it’s not the camera… it’s the photographer 😉
the parliament is so beautiful. very european in architecture.
oh, i just wanna have some lebanese snacks rite now! it’s been some time since i last had it.. 🙂
Can you find Lebanese snacks easily? I wish I could have some roti right now… I loved them…
Candid shots are the best!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed them.
I find night lights give each city a different scene… and specially love them when they glow reflected on wet ground! Lovely pictures, by the way!
You’re right, each city has its own atmosphere. But regardless, I find night scene really show a different side of the city we are used to!
Gorgeous pictures Zhu! You are a pro!
Thank you!
Gorgeous shots, Zhu! 🙂 Thanks again for joining in with this week’s Traveler’s Show & Tell blog carnival over at my blog. ~Tui